Information-protected window send envelope with adhered inside address patch

ABSTRACT

Printed transactional documents are enclosed in a document size-inclusive envelope that gives the appearance of being a traditional windowed envelope in which the send address shows through from the address vehicle page inside, but actually has the address printed on an adhered patch that shows through the window, keeping the data inside more protected and allowing production processes to be more efficient, and the patch or envelope has a serialized identifier that ensures the address printed on the patch and seen in the window corresponds with the document on the inside.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to, and the benefit of, U.S.provisional patent application Ser. No. 62/207,207 filed on Aug. 19,2015, incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

Not Applicable

INCORPORATION-BY-REFERENCE OF COMPUTER PROGRAM APPENDIX

Not Applicable

NOTICE OF MATERIAL SUBJECT TO COPYRIGHT PROTECTION

A portion of the material in this patent document is subject tocopyright protection under the copyright laws of the United States andof other countries. The owner of the copyright rights has no objectionto the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or thepatent disclosure, as it appears in the United States Patent andTrademark Office publicly available file or records, but otherwisereserves all copyright rights whatsoever. The copyright owner does nothereby waive any of its rights to have this patent document maintainedin secrecy, including without limitation its rights pursuant to 37C.F.R. § 1.14.

BACKGROUND 1. Technical Field

The subject invention pertains generally to the manner in whichtransactional documents, such as bills, statements, and the like, areenclosed in envelopes in order to be mailed to recipients via FirstClass US Mail. More specifically, the subject invention relates to adocument size-inclusive window send envelope that appears to present anaddress through a cutout window that is printed on an inner document,but, in fact, is an internal document information-protected window sendenvelope that shows an opaque address patch adhered to the inside of theenvelope that is specifically matched with the inside document(s).

2. Background Discussion

Transactional documents such as bills, statements, and the like oftencontain sensitive and timely financial and/or health care informationabout the recipient that the document's sender is responsible forprotecting until it is in the recipient's hands. In recent years federallaw has increased the penalties for service providers who fail toadequately protect such information.

This protection responsibility can be legally transferred to the USPostal Service (USPS) if the document is sent via First Class mail in aproperly addressed envelope complying with applicable USPS standards.Mail pieces bearing delivery addresses in compliance with this standardenjoy the full protection of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, theprimary federal law enforcement and security arm of the USPS. PostalInspectors protect customers and investigate criminals who fraudulentlymisuse the U.S. Mail to commit crime. Through its security andenforcement functions, the Postal Inspection Service provides assuranceto postal customers that their mail will be delivered safely andsecurely.

The same protections are available from other domestic and internationalpostal authorities, so the term “postal authority” refers to alldomestic and international mail delivery services that provide a levelof security substantially the same as that of the United States PostalService.

To help ensure that documents are properly addressed, senders of FirstClass mail, long ago, mostly abandoned the idea of printing arecipient's mailing address on the outside of the envelope, optinginstead to cut a hole or “window” through the envelope so that theaddress printed on the document inside showed through. This eliminatesthe risk of the address on the outside not matching the address on thedocument inside the envelope.

At the same time, senders of less-sensitive and less-timely informationsuch as advertisements have mostly opted to send documents via StandardClass mail using envelopes that do have the recipient's address printedon the outside. In many cases the contents are the same for eachrecipient. The outside-printed address is an advantage for such mailersbecause it eliminates the need to mechanically align a send addressprinted on the document inside with the mailing envelope window.

There are various consequences of the current practices. Over time, mailrecipients have become accustomed to, at a glance, considering thewindowed envelope as an indicator of how important a particular mailpiece is and whether it is personalized for the recipient or just ageneric advertisement that can be discarded without being opened. Thus,the mere presence or absence of a send envelope window can play avaluable role in determining the degree of attention paid to the mailpiece by the recipient and whether it will be opened, regardless of theenvelope's actual contents. This makes First Class mailers extremelyreluctant to abandon the use of windowed envelopes for fear the envelopewill be discarded unopened.

At the same time, mergers and acquisitions in the financial, healthcare, and telecommunications industries and the consequent drive toreduce costs through consolidation has led to the need to make largenumbers of document types with many different address locations and foldspecifications share the same windowed envelope design so they can beprocessed in the same production run and mailed more efficiently.

However, these efforts have been stymied by several critical, competingfactors. For example, the different locations of send addresses printedon the different types of documents pushes mailers to enlarge theenvelope window so the same envelope can accommodate different sendaddress locations, but the need to protect Personally IdentifiableInformation (PII) printed near the send address location from beingviewed through the envelope window pushes mailers to shrink the envelopewindow to keep the PII data secure.

Further, mailers have an incentive to keep the envelope's size large sothat high speed inserting equipment can run more efficiently, but thisgives the document inside more room to move around, requiring the maileragain to increase the size of the window to accommodate the movingaddress, but once again only at the risk of exposing more PII data.

Mailers often address the above problems by adding an additional sheetto the document, a cover page whose purpose is solely to present themailing address in a manner that is mechanically aligned with theenvelope's window, which effectively protects all PII on the pagesbehind, sometimes called an Address Vehicle Page (AVP) (see FIG. 1—PRIORART).

One of the problems associated with this AVP method is the additionalproduction cost of the extra sheet, which must be produced in line withthe other sheets in the document, often during peak demand periods, plusthe additional postage cost of the extra weight. In the case ofinternational mailings, part of the postage cost is directly related tototal package weight. With mailings typically numbering in the millionsof mail pieces for a large scale mailing facility, every gram/ouncecounts and these costs can create a substantial barrier to the method'suse, often substantial enough to negate its utility. In addition,environmentally conscious recipients often complain to the sender thatthe AVP is a waste of paper and environmentally unsound.

Yet further, mailers have an incentive to use the same envelope fordocuments that consist of a small number of sheets, as those that have alarge number of sheets, because they can be processed in the sameproduction run and placed into the same mailing tray, substantiallyreducing postage costs. However, the large variance in the number ofsheets from one document to the next impacts the alignment of the sendaddress within the envelope window (see FIG. 2—PRIOR ART), which pushesthe mailer to increase the size of the window, only to once againincrease the risk of exposing more PII data.

Yet additionally, mailers have an incentive to use the same equipmentand processes to insert the widest possible array of document typesefficiently, but still end up with each document's send address properlyaligned with the send envelope window. As seen in FIG. 3—PRIOR ART, thispresents a complex variety of permutations, considering just the mostcommon combinations of document folding habits, and send addresslocations (i.e. either at the top of the page or at the bottom of thepage, whether the documents are presented to the inserting machine faceup or face down, and whether the documents are fed into the equipmenteither head first or foot first).

BRIEF SUMMARY

An object of the technology described herein is to provide a mailingpackage, method of mailing, and system for creating postalauthority-compliant mail pieces that have the same look and feel aswindowed transactional mail pieces but are produced as efficiently asmail pieces with sprayed-on addresses and internal document informationis protected from viewing through the window.

Another object of the technology described herein is to furnish a postalauthority-compliant mail piece that includes a mailing documentsize-inclusive envelope having an internal information-protected cutoutwindow, a document having associated address information for a recipientcontained within the windowed envelope and a window patch printed withthe address and unique ID bar code information correlated with thedocument and adhered inside the envelope over the window and visiblethrough the window, thereby protecting internal document informationfrom viewing through the window.

A further object of the technology described herein is to supply meansfor producing patch material, means for producing adhered patchenvelopes, means for correlating address information associated with thedocument with the address patch or envelope, means for adhering anaddress patch to an envelope, means for printing the address patch, andmeans for verifying the address patch information matches the document'sassociated address information.

Still another object of the technology described herein is to disclose amail piece assembly system for creating a postal authority-complianttransactional mail piece that has a windowed envelope with an internaladhered address patch that is visible through the window and an internaldocument with an associated address, comprising: a) means for producingwindow patch material for adhering over the window inside the envelope;b) means for producing the window-adhered address patch from the windowpatch material; c) means for applying a unique serialized identifier toeither the envelope or the address patch; d) means for correlatingdocument address information with either the address window patch or theenvelope unique identifiers; e) means for inserting the document intothe envelope; f) means for printing the address patch with thedocument's associated address and unique ID bar code information; and g)means for verifying that the document's associated address matches theprinted patch or envelope identifiers.

Disclosed is a mailing method, system, and mailing package in which aprinted transactional document(s) and optional mailable items areenclosed in a mail item size-inclusive envelope that gives theappearance of being a traditional windowed envelope in which the sendaddress shows through from the address vehicle page inside, but actuallyhas the address printed on an adhered patch that shows through thewindow, keeping the data inside more secure and allowing productionprocesses to be more efficient, and the patch or envelope has aserialized identifier that ensures the address printed on the patch andseen in the window corresponds with the document on the inside.

More specifically, disclosed is a postal authority-compliant mail piece,comprising: a) a document size-inclusive mailing envelope having acutout window; b) a document comprising one or more pages and havingaddress information for a recipient contained within the windowedenvelope; and c) a window patch printed with the address and unique IDbar code information associated with the document and adhered inside theenvelope over the window and visible through the window, therebyprotecting internal document information from viewing through thewindow. Also, included is a serialized barcode on the window patch touniquely identify the envelope. Further, included is a process thatcorrelates the window patch barcode with a unique identifier on thedocument. Additionally, included is a process that ensures that theaddress information on the document is printed on the window patch.Still further, included is a process that ensures that the addressinformation printed on the window patch can be verified any time afterbeing produced without opening the envelope. Yet included further is aprocess that ensures the verification without opening the envelopeoccurs by matching the document identifier with the window patch barcodeto establish that they are correctly matched with each other. Also,included is a barcode on the envelope to uniquely identify the envelope,a process that matches the envelope barcode with a unique identifier onthe document, a process that ensures that the address and unique ID barcode information associated with the document is printed on theenvelope, a process that matches the envelope barcode with a uniqueidentifier on the document, and a process that ensures the verificationwithout opening the envelope occurs by matching the document identifierwith the envelope barcode to establish that they are correctly matchedwith each other.

Additionally, disclosed is a method for mailing one or more identicallyor variably sized mailable items within an internalinformation-protected windowed size-inclusive send envelope. Theinternal information-protected windowed and mail item size-inclusivesend envelope includes a cutout window and a window patch printed withthe mail recipient's address and unique ID bar code informationassociated with an internal document and adhered inside the envelopeover the window and visible through the window, thereby protectinginternal information on the document from viewing through the window.Also, included is a serialized barcode on the window patch to uniquelyidentify the envelope. Further, included is a process that correlatesthe window patch barcode with a unique identifier on the document.

Also, disclosed is a mail piece assembly system for creating a postalauthority-compliant transactional mail piece that has a windowedenvelope with an internal adhered address patch that is visible throughthe window and an internal document with an associated address,comprising: a) means for producing window patch material for adheringover the window inside the envelope; b) means for producing thewindow-adhered address patch from the window patch material; c) meansfor applying a unique identifier to either the envelope or the addresspatch; d) means for correlating associated document address informationwith either the address window patch or the envelope unique identifiers;e) means for inserting the document into the envelope; f) means forprinting the address patch with the address and unique ID bar codeassociated with the document; and g) means for verifying that thedocument address matches the printed patch or envelope identifiers.

Further aspects of the technology described herein will be brought outin the following portions of the specification, wherein the detaileddescription is for the purpose of fully disclosing preferred embodimentsof the technology without placing limitations thereon.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING(S)

The technology described herein will be more fully understood byreference to the following drawings which are for illustrative purposesonly:

FIG. 1—PRIOR ART—This figure shows a typical example of an “AddressVehicle Page” that is mailed within a standard window envelope (with orwithout an inner adhered see-through/clear cover patch) and thatincludes a unique ID bar code.

FIG. 2—PRIOR ART—Shows the problem of a shifting location of an addressregion when multiple pages are folded for insertion into an envelope.

FIG. 3—PRIOR ART—Shows the problem of a shifting location of an addressregion when multiple types of folding systems are utilized for foldingdocuments for insertion into and envelope.

FIG. 4—PRIOR ART—Shows the outside of a traditional windowed envelopewith an interior document having an address region including a unique IDbar code that shows through the window (with or without an inner adheredsee-through/clear cover patch).

FIG. 5—PRIOR ART—Shows the inside of a traditional windowed envelope,that has not yet been folded, in which an inner see-through/clear coverpatch in adhered to cover the window.

FIG. 6 shows the portion of a typical AVP that is utilized in thesubject invention to print on a subject window patch that is adheredinside an envelope and is seen through the envelope's window.

FIG. 7 shows a roll of pre-printed material that is produced to serve asenvelope window patches in the subject invention.

FIG. 8 shows an envelope that employs the subject invention in which anaddressed and serialized window patch is adhered to the inside of awindowed envelope and shows through the window.

FIG. 9 shows an envelope that employs the subject invention in which anaddressed window patch is adhered to the inside of a windowed andserialized envelope and shows through the window.

FIG. 10 show a folded set of document pages in which a unique ID isincluded in the address region so that the window patch address and thedocument address can be checked for proper correlation.

FIG. 11 is a flow chart showing the production of subject window patchmaterial (see FIG. 7, above).

FIG. 12 is a flow chart showing the process for how a subject windowpatch is adhered to the inside of a windowed envelope.

FIG. 13A shows a flow chart dealing with the correlation and insertionprocess of the subject invention.

FIG. 13B shows a flow chart dealing with the addressing and verificationprocess of the subject invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring more specifically to the drawings, for illustrative purposesthe subject technology is embodied in the system generally shown inFIGS. 1 through 13B. It will be appreciated that the subject system,method, and mailing package may vary as to configuration and as todetails of the components, and that the method of assembly may vary asto the specific steps and sequence, without departing from the basicconcepts as disclosed herein.

The subject invention solves existing problems in mailing documents in awindowed envelope, yet still presents the recipient with a mail piecethat has the same look and feel of a traditional windowed envelope witha pre-printed address form inside (see FIG. 4—PRIOR ART). As seen inFIG. 4—PRIOR ART, the window W allows the address A printed on the AVPto show through (with or without a see-through/clear window materialadhered to the inside of the window).

Transactional mail documents such as bills, statements, and the like arenot only usually mailed inside windowed envelopes but are also oftenprinted on forms that bear distinctive insignia or backgrounds (akin towatermarks or the equivalent). Service providers usually consider suchartwork to be an important means of advertising their brand andtypically have many years invested in presenting such imagery in aconsistent fashion through many different channels so that customersrecognize it instantly. Mail piece recipients therefore often considerboth the presence of the windowed envelope and the artwork or insigniaon the document visible through the window in deciding that such mailpiece is indeed one that merits a higher level of attention.

The invention exploits this fact by replacing any see-through/clearwindow material used in some traditional windowed envelope manufacturing(see FIG. 5—PRIOR ART in its non-folded form, inside surface) with formsbearing the exact same distinctive insignia or background imagery thatwill be on the forms that ultimately travel to the recipient inside thevery same envelope. As seen in FIG. 4—PRIOR ART, the traditionalwindowed envelope E has fold lines F, a see-through/clear patch C, and awindow W over which the see-through/clear patch C is adhered.

In a real sense (as seen in FIG. 6), the invention produces the sameresult as would an AVP, except that the only part of the AVP informationthat goes into the final mailing package is the address portion 10matching the size and position of a see-through/clear window covering,which saves weight and paper costs.

Since such a window patch is not printed at the same time as thedocument contained inside the envelope, the subject invention saves notonly paper but also high-demand printer capacity, which is freed up formore valuable uses. Additionally, since the windowed envelopes arefabricated with the open window at a reproducible location for anyparticular envelope size, various sized documents and optional insertsmay be placed into the same size-inclusive windowed envelope, therebyenabling one size-inclusive windowed envelope, with particular physicaldimensions, to be utilized for many document and insert combinationssince the window patch will always be adhered in the correct position.This permits a small set of size-inclusive windowed envelopes, withparticular physical dimensions, to be used for a huge array of internaldocuments/inserts since each member of the set will always have thewindow patch correctly placed within the window.

Since service providers often use the same forms, artwork, and imageryacross a wide variety of document types, a single version of such anapparently-open, but actually-closed window-type envelope can serve tocarry a wide variety of document types inside and still be recognized byrecipients just as effectively as if the documents were sent insidetraditional windowed envelopes.

The subject patch material (normally a paper or other polymer product)produced to serve in place of the traditional see-through/clear windowcovering would carry not only the service provider's pre-printed artworkand insignia, but also a series of small bar codes carrying anincrementing serial number that can serve as a unique identifier for theenvelope to which the material will be attached.

As seen in FIG. 7, a roll of pre-printed patch material 15 hasindividual window patches 20, with any required background printing,that will be cut along the dashed lines 25 to produce the separatedpatches that are adhered inside each windowed envelope. The serializedunique identifiers 30 (usually any barcode notation) are seen on theright side of each patch 20, but may be printed in any desired locationon the patch that does not interfere with the future addresses. The barcode symbols (unique identifiers 30), each representing a unique serialnumber, are either spaced closely together to ensure that one willalways be visible through the window in its entirety, if the envelopeproduction process cannot synchronize patch attachment, or spaced oneper patch if the envelope production process can synchronize patchattachment. This ensures that each envelope will always bear a uniquemachine-readable ID regardless of whether the material is or is notvertically aligned with the envelope's window during the envelopemanufacturing process.

As seen in FIG. 8, the result is a send envelope with a pre-printedaddress carrier window bearing a machine-readable serial number on theattached patch that uniquely identifies the envelope. No documentinformation is visible through the envelope window.

Alternately, as seen in FIG. 9, the envelopes themselves could bemanufactured without the unique ID appearing in the window; but insteadthe unique ID (barcode 30) could be applied directly to the envelope asit is drawn into an inserting machine. This alternate process would havethe advantage of leaving the window area free for address informationalone. Such ID application could be done using a small ink-jet printerpositioned where the send envelopes are singulated exiting a receivinghopper.

At the inserting machine, when a particular document is being loadedinto a particular envelope, a computer controlling two machinevision/imaging components records the unique identity of the envelopeand the unique identity of the document going inside it (see FIG. 10 andthe associated unique identifier 35, usually a barcode or theequivalent) and then correlates the two, storing the result in adatabase.

At the end of the inserting machine another machine vision/imagingsystem controlled by the correlating computer reads the unique IDvisible through the envelope's window and, as long as the now-sealedpackage is in all other respects ready for mailing, looks up the sendaddress in a database using the correlation obtained earlier and printsthe send address and an additional bar coded ID directly onto the windowmaterial. The additional bar code uniquely correlates the printed sendaddress information with the document inside. The send address isprinted using technology that is identical to or similar to the standardprinting technology used to print the envelope's contents that theresult is not easily distinguishable from a traditional windowed mailpiece.

Those skilled in the relevant arts will recognize that modern insertingmachinery could, in theory, simply track the mail piece from the pointof insertion to the point of send address application and print thecorresponding address and bar code without reading any unique ID fromthe envelope. However, it is well known that machine stoppage andoperator manual error recovery events are extremely common in suchsituations. Since the matching of the send address to the documentinside is critically important to both the mailer and the recipient ahigher level of assurance is necessary. The invention provides suchassurance without the need to open or peer inside the envelope. Forexample, if, instead, the correlating computer, upon reading the uniqueserialized ID, visible either on the envelope or through the envelope'swindow, found that the package was not the one expected or for somereason not ready for mailing, perhaps because of a processing errorhaving been detected earlier, the controlling computer would prevent thecorrelating address from being printed on the window material, andinstead an error message such as “Processing Error DO NOT MAIL” would beprinted instead. Such a message would effectively prevent the documentfrom ever reaching any recipient, even if the mail processor forwhatever reason failed to stop its departure from the mailing facility.

Additionally, after the address is applied to the window patch, theinvention provides that yet another machine vision/imaging system canrecord the final image of the completed mail piece's face, which wouldthen include the serialized bar code symbol, the printed address, andthe unique correlation barcode symbol, and verify all with the imagesrecorded at the time the document and the envelope first came togetherimmediately prior to the main inserting section of the machine. Suchverification serves as a check on the address printing component of thesystem.

Together the system of overlapping automated process quality assurancesprevents errors by any single component of the system from allowing badmail pieces to exit the mailing facility.

FIG. 11 illustrates an exemplary flow chart that describes the processof producing the patch material for the subject invention.

FIG. 12 illustrates an exemplary flow chart that describes the processof producing the window-adhered address patch for the subject invention.

FIG. 13A illustrates an exemplary flow chart that describes the subjectcorrelation and insertion process for the subject invention.

FIG. 13B illustrates an exemplary flow chart that describes the subjectaddressing and verification process for the subject invention.

Additionally, the subject invention may comprise a postalauthority-compliant mail piece, wherein the window patch is printedeither before or after adherence to the inside of the envelope, asdesired by the mailing facility. Clearly, the flow diagram seen in FIG.13B is slightly altered (to eliminate the patch printing step) in asituation in which the window patch is printed before adherence.

Further, although the envelope-contained document is often a bill,statement, or the like, additional informational material may becontained in the envelope such as advertisements and the like.

It is noted that the window patch or envelope may be printed withmessaging information that is additional to said address information.

There are many advantages for the subject invention over the existingsystem. The subject invention provides a means for a number ofefficiencies to be enjoyed by mailers while still presenting recipientswith the traditional look and feel of a transactional mail piece in awindowed envelope, including, but not limited to:

1) It saves production cost and postage for additional sheet (a.k.a.Address Vehicle Page);

2) A single envelope size can suit a range of document sizes since itdoes not matter if packages move around inside;

3) It supports the personalization of each envelope because printingtechnology can place images on the envelope as well as on the window;

4) It requires a personalization print path requirement of only about4.2 inches across the front of the envelope allowing half-letter sizeprint heads to handle any document;

5) It supports increased job consolidation by removing address andwindow placements as barriers;

6) It supports electronic sorting of documents with different sendaddress locations to achieve higher postage discounts;

7) It adds little or no weight to mail piece compared to see-throughwindow envelopes;

8) It saves unit envelope cost due to fewer envelope variations andlarger order quantities;

9) Each envelope is more environmentally friendly because eachtransparent plastic window covering is replaced with more recyclablepaper;

10) More secure envelopes eliminate the possibility of PII showingthrough the window; and

11) It can free up valuable space on the document now used by thesending address and window clear zones.

Disclosed embodiments of the subject invention include a postalauthority-compliant and document size-inclusive envelope for containingone or more documents having address information and of one or morepages, with each document of fixed or variable sizes, in which documentinformation is protected from outside-the-envelope viewing, comprising:a) the document size-inclusive mailing envelope having a cutout windowand dimensioned to accept one or more variably sized documents; b) anopaque address window patch for printing address information associatedwith the document that is mailed in the mailing envelope, wherein theaddress widow patch is adhered inside the mailing envelope over thewindow and visible through the window, thereby protecting documentinformation from view through said cutout window; and c) a uniqueidentifier printed on either the address window patch or a front of thedocument size-inclusive mailing envelope, wherein said unique identifiercorrelates with the document address information.

Additionally, disclosed embodiments of the subject invention include apostal authority-compliant mail piece, comprising: a) a documentsize-inclusive mailing envelope having a cutout window, wherein theenvelope contains one of more documents of one or more pages, with eachdocument of fixed or variable sizes, in which document information isprotected from outside-the-envelope viewing; b) a document havingaddress information for a recipient contained within the windowedenvelope; and c) a window patch printed with the address informationobtained from the document and adhered inside the envelope over thewindow and visible through the window, thereby protecting informationprinted on the document form viewing through the window.

An additional embodiment includes a barcode on the window patch touniquely identify the envelope.

Another embodiment includes a process that matches the window patchbarcode with a unique identifier on the document.

A further embodiment includes a process that ensures that the addressinformation on the document is printed on the window patch.

Yet another embodiment includes a process that ensures that the addressinformation printed on the window patch can be verified any time afterbeing produced without opening the envelope.

Still another embodiment includes a process that ensures theverification without opening the envelope occurs by matching thedocument identifier with the window patch barcode to establish both arethe same.

An additional embodiment includes a barcode on the envelope to uniquelyidentify the envelope.

Still an additional embodiment includes a process that matches theenvelope barcode with a unique identifier on the document.

Yet still another embodiment includes a process that ensures that theaddress information on the document is printed on the envelope.

A further additional embodiment includes a process that matches theenvelope barcode with a unique identifier on the document.

Still another further embodiment includes a process that ensures theverification without opening the envelope occurs by matching theassociated unique ID printed at the same time as the address with theserialized envelope barcode to establish that the correct address wasprinted.

Another additional embodiment comprises the document or documents beingprinted at a first time and the window patch printed at a second time.

Another embodiment of the subject invention includes a mail pieceassembly system for creating a postal authority-compliant transactionalmail piece that has a document size-inclusive and windowed envelope forcontaining one or more documents of one or more pages, with eachdocument of fixed of variable sizes, and optional inserts, with aninternal adhered address patch that is visible through the window,thereby protecting information on the document from viewing through thewindow, and the one or more internal addressed documents, comprising: a)means for producing window patch material for adhering over the windowinside the document size-inclusive envelope; b) means for producing thewindow-adhered address patch from the window patch material; c) meansfor applying a unique identifier to either the document size-inclusiveenvelope or the address patch; d) means for correlating document addressinformation with either the address window patch or the documentsize-inclusive envelope unique identifiers; e) means for inserting theone or more documents into the document size-inclusive envelope; f)means for printing the address patch with the document addressinformation; and g) means for verifying that the document addressinformation matches the printed patch or document size-inclusiveenvelope identifiers.

Still yet another embodiment of the subject comprises a method forcreating a postal authority-compliant transactional mail piece formailing to a recipient at one address that contains one or more singleand multipage documents, with optional fliers, and is contained within awindowed envelope The steps comprise: a) selecting a windowed envelopethat is sufficiently sized to contain all of the one or more single andmultipage documents, with optional fliers, being mailed to one address;b) producing an address window patch, printed with document addressinformation, for internal adherence over a window in the envelope so asto be visible through the window, thereby protecting information on theenclosed one or more documents from viewing through the window; c)applying a unique identifier to either the windowed envelope or theaddress window patch; d) adhering the address window patch over thewindow inside the windowed envelope; e) inserting the one or more singleand multipage documents, with optional fliers, into the windowedenvelope; f) correlating the document address information with eitherthe windowed envelope or the address window patch unique identifiers;and g) verifying that the document address information matches theprinted address window patch or windowed envelope indentifiers.

Embodiments of the subject technology may be described with reference toflowchart illustrations of methods and systems according to embodimentsof the technology, and/or algorithms, formulae, or other computationaldepictions, which may also be implemented as computer program products.In this regard, each block or step of a flowchart, and combinations ofblocks (and/or steps) in a flowchart, algorithm, formula, orcomputational depiction can be implemented by various means, such ashardware, firmware, and/or software including one or more computerprogram instructions embodied in computer-readable program code logic.As will be appreciated, any such computer program instructions may beloaded onto a computer, including without limitation a general purposecomputer or special purpose computer, or other programmable processingapparatus to produce a machine, such that the computer programinstructions which execute on the computer or other programmableprocessing apparatus create means for implementing the functionsspecified in the block(s) of the flowchart(s).

Accordingly, blocks of the flowcharts, algorithms, formulae, orcomputational depictions support combinations of means for performingthe specified functions, combinations of steps for performing thespecified functions, and computer program instructions, such as embodiedin computer-readable program code logic means, for performing thespecified functions. It will also be understood that each block of theflowchart illustrations, algorithms, formulae, or computationaldepictions and combinations thereof described herein, can be implementedby special purpose hardware-based computer systems which perform thespecified functions or steps, or combinations of special purposehardware and computer-readable program code logic means.

Furthermore, these computer program instructions, such as embodied incomputer-readable program code logic, may also be stored in acomputer-readable memory that can direct a computer or otherprogrammable processing apparatus to function in a particular manner,such that the instructions stored in the computer-readable memoryproduce an article of manufacture including instruction means whichimplement the function specified in the block(s) of the flowchart(s).The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer orother programmable processing apparatus to cause a series of operationalsteps to be performed on the computer or other programmable processingapparatus to produce a computer-implemented process such that theinstructions which execute on the computer or other programmableprocessing apparatus provide steps for implementing the functionsspecified in the block(s) of the flowchart(s), algorithm(s), formula(e),or computational depiction(s).

It will further be appreciated that the terms “programming” or “programexecutable” as used herein refer to one or more instructions that can beexecuted by a processor to perform a function as described herein. Theinstructions can be embodied in software, in firmware, or in acombination of software and firmware. The instructions can be storedlocally to the device in non-transitory media, or can be stored remotelysuch as on a server, or all or a portion of the instructions can bestored locally and remotely. Instructions stored remotely can bedownloaded (pushed) to the device by user initiation, or automaticallybased on one or more factors. It will further be appreciated that asused herein, that the terms processor, computer processor, centralprocessing unit (CPU), and computer are used synonymously to denote adevice capable of executing the instructions and communicating withinput/output interfaces and/or peripheral devices.

Although the description herein contains many details, these should notbe construed as limiting the scope of the disclosure but as merelyproviding illustrations of some of the presently preferred embodiments.Therefore, it will be appreciated that the scope of the disclosure fullyencompasses other embodiments which may become obvious to those skilledin the art.

In the claims, reference to an element in the singular is not intendedto mean “one and only one” unless explicitly so stated, but rather “oneor more.” All structural, chemical, and functional equivalents to theelements of the disclosed embodiments that are known to those ofordinary skill in the art are expressly incorporated herein by referenceand are intended to be encompassed by the present claims. Furthermore,no element, component, or method step in the present disclosure isintended to be dedicated to the public regardless of whether theelement, component, or method step is explicitly recited in the claims.No claim element herein is to be construed as a “means plus function”element unless the element is expressly recited using the phrase “meansfor”. No claim element herein is to be construed as a “step plusfunction” element unless the element is expressly recited using thephrase “step for”.

What is claimed is:
 1. A postal authority-compliant and documentsize-inclusive envelope for containing one or more documents havingaddress information and of one or more pages, with each document offixed or variable sizes, in which document information is protected fromoutside-the-envelope viewing, comprising the document size-inclusivemailing envelope having a cutout window and dimensioned to accept one ormore variably sized documents.